


Dreamies

by aria_9627



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 08:06:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17915036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aria_9627/pseuds/aria_9627
Summary: Jaemin is back from his surgery and finds that two new people have joined his friend group that has stayed the same for more than a decade, let's just say that he is not very comfortable with the change.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not very creative with titles...

Jaemin couldn't stop his feet from bouncing excitedly as his mother drove him to the school, it was almost lunch time and he can't wait to surprise them. He had just arrived from the airport and should really be resting but he had missed his friends so much that he begged his mother to drive him to school, video calls and chatting just wasn't good enough, not when there were days when all he wanted was a hug or a pat from them. He could feel his heart thud against his rib cage as the view of the school came closer; closing his eyes, he took deep breaths trying to calm down.

 

“Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?” His mom asked with a teasing smile.

 

“Of course not, that'd be embarrassing mom… but you'll wait for me here right?” She chuckled and ruffled his hair, earning an indignant shriek.

 

“How else would you get home without your bus card? Now go and surprise them brat, lunch will end in like forty five minutes.” Jaemin nods and gets out of the car. He takes a deep breath before entering the school gates, he hadn't been this nervous when he was a first year. Jaemin was recognized as soon as he entered the campus, the girls were loud as they welcomed him back and the boys approached him with gentle pats on the back. One of them told him where he could find his friends, not that he didn't know that already. Jaemin walked confidently to the cafeteria and indeed he saw his friends, talking and laughing with one another, as loud as ever. They were too absorbed in their chaotic conversation that they didn't even notice Jaemin walk up to them, until he patted his best friend's shoulder that is. 

 

Jeno looked up, expecting a teacher to ask them to lower their voices but was surprised when he saw the person he had missed the most. It didn't take him long to jump up and pull Jaemin into a gentle, firm and extra long hug, ignoring his other friends who had started cheering and whining for a turn.

 

“You're back!” Jeno says when he finally pulls away, he takes in the healthy tan that Jaemin has developed, his bright smile and shining eyes; Jaemin looks happy and healthy, and that’s all Jeno could’ve asked for.

 

“And you didn't tell us! That's not fair!” Donghyuck finally pulls Jaemin from Jeno and gets a turn hugging the youngest of the ‘00 line.

 

“Sorry but I really wanted to surprise you guys, you'll forgive me right?” He pouts cutely which just melts the stern frown off Hyuck's face. 

 

“Welcome back Jaemin, we all missed you.” The oldest hugged him gently; in a way, Mark gives the best hugs, Jaemin thinks, it just always makes him feel special. Next he was tackled and hugged by his favorite person.

 

“Missed you Nana hyung, you're all fine now right? You're coming back?” Jisung asks, and Jaemin couldn't believe how tall his baby had grown in the months that he was gone but taller or not Jisung would always be his baby so he hugs the younger again and confirms that he was back for good. It's only then that he notices two other boys sitting at the table and watching them awkwardly, Jisung must've seen his confusion because suddenly he was being pulled to sit in front of the other boys.

 

“Lele, Injun hyung, this is Nana hyung, you've heard all about him right?” Jaemin shakes his head at the the youngest member of their friend group, he had been scared of changes but maybe he shouldn't have stressed so much about it, then he looks at the the other boys and thinks that maybe he should be, scared that is.

 

“Introduce them properly, idiot” Hyuck slaps the back of the youngest's head.

 

“Nana, this is Huang Renjun and Zhong Chenle, they transferred in this year and are both Chinese, cousins too. Jun, Lele, this is Na Jaemin, I'm sure you've heard all about him if not from us then from the whole school, he's my best friend.” Jaemin smiles at the other boys who smile back at him.

 

“Nice to meet you guys” He says and they reply with the same sentiment, it was a bit awkward but Mark was quick to switch the conversation topic by talking about what they've been up to lately. Soon enough it was time for Jaemin to go and for his friends to go to back to class. 

 

He was quiet as he got in the car, his mind whirling as he tried to wrap his mind around their little reunion. It hadn't exactly gone as he had expected it to, it's far from the worst scenario his mind had come up with but something still unsettled him. Perhaps it was wishful thinking but he hadn't expected things to change so much in the short time that he was gone. His phone buzzed and Jaemin pulled it out to check the message.

 

From: Acorn

Welcome back Nana, we're really happy that you're back. When you coming to school? We didn't really get to talk earlier, wanna hang out this weekend?

 

He smiled as he read Jeno's message, the other always has this magical way of knowing what to say to make Jaemin feel better.

 

To: Acorn

I'll probably be back to school next week and I'd be happy to hang out on the weekend, usual place? I'm happy I'm back too Jen, ttyl, focus on your class for now.

 

Later that night Jaemin lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling as his mind wandered. He has known his friends from their daycare years, they're very close and everyone who knew them also knew that. Their schoolmates even coined a name for their group, the Dreamies, because the girls apparently found them dreamy, which had been disturbing at first but something they'd gotten used to. All five of them were also quite popular individually, with Mark being the straight A student council president, Hyuck being the lead singer of the school choir, Jeno and Jisung were the aces of the Dance club and both had commercials or acting stuff every now and then, Jaemin had also been one of the Dance club's best until his back bothered him too much and he decided to quit, then he'd joined Hyuck in the choir, and he wasn't half bad there too. That isn’t really the point though, it has always been five of them, even when they'd joined different clubs and gained attention. For years they've kept to the five of them, even when they made different friends and now suddenly there were two more people in their circle. He doesn't dislike them, Chenle seemed to be hilarious and he actually made Jisung laugh which was always a plus in Jaemin's books and Renjun seemed to be really nice, he just doesn't know them and it unsettled him.

 

The door opens and his mom enters with a tray of juice and snacks- bribe probably, Jaemin thinks. She places it on the low table in his room and makes herself comfortable, waiting for him to join her. He tries to stay stubborn but eventually moves to sit in front of her, knowing he can’t really avoid it.

 

“You’ve been quiet since we left the school, anything wrong?” She asks nonchalantly before taking a sip of juice, patiently waiting for him to answer.

 

“I- it’s just different.” Jaemin says, not really knowing how he should put his feelings into words without sounding ridiculous.

 

“From what you expected or from what you wanted?” Jaemin thinks about that…

 

What did he expect, he expected them to change just like he has but hadn’t expected them to change so much; what he wanted was harder, he wanted things to be the same, to just be able to pick up where he left but that was unrealistic, he tells his mom as much.

 

“But that’s not just it, is it?” Jaemin looks down at his juice and nibbles on a cookie, trying to ignore his mom. “Jaeminne?” she asks worriedly.

 

“They have two new friends.” he cringes at how childish that sounds, even to himself.

 

“And that bothers you, why?” She looks at her son who is once again pretending that she hasn’t just asked a question. “Baby, you know that your friend’s are allowed to have other friends right?” he frowns at her tone.

 

“Of course I know that, it just bothers me that they’ve never mentioned these guys. They’ve been friends long enough that Jisung has a nickname for them, long enough for them to tell these guys all about me but I’ve never heard of them.” He says, sounding quite petulant.

 

“Have you told them about Yukhei or Yangyang?” His brows crease, not understanding why his mom was bringing them up.

“Not really but what do they have to do with this?” She smiles at him indulgently.

 

“So why do you expect them to tell you about their new friends? You certainly didn’t tell them about yours.” he frowns.

 

“That’s different-”

 

“I beg to differ, you can’t expect them to tell you about their friends when you don’t tell them about yours baby.” Jaemin thinks about that and nods.

 

“But, it’s strange...” She goes over to his side of the table and hugs him comfortingly.

 

“It’s strange and it might be strange for a while but it will be fine, you’ll see; besides you should know how picky your friends are, it’s the main reason you guys made more than a decade with just you five, it they think that these guys are good enough to actually let in, shouldn’t that tell you enough?” Jaemin nodded and hugged his mom back; it didn’t magically wipe his all his fears away but it was enough.

He was prepared for sleep when his phone went crazy with notifications, he picked it up and smiled when he noticed that they were all messages from his friends. Lastly was a message from Jeno-

 

From: Acorn

Sure, I’ll pick you up at twelve, k? Good night nana, sweet dreams… I missed you <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaemin's excited to hang out with his best friend Jeno but there's a change of plans.

Jaemin was excited to hang out and catch up with his best friend, with all that has changed while he’s gone, he’s sure that there’s a lot of stories the other could tell him. He was also excited to know more about Renjun and Chenle so that it won’t be so awkward when he finally returns to school next week. He had taken all of the previous day to reflect on himself and adjust to the fact that there would be two new faces in his friend group, it also helped that he’d stalked the two of them on social media.

 

He’d be fine, the fact that Donghyuck, who is the most picky individual Jaemin has ever met, allowed them in their little circle meant that they were nice, he’d be friends with them soon enough. He also kept chatting with his friends who were all excited to hear that he’d be back to school soon.

 

He noticed the time and decided it was time to start preparing, Jeno had promised to pick him up before lunch. He had just chosen his clothes when his phone rang; his friends only ever called when there was a change of plans or an emergency and his parents were both home, Jaemin just hoped it wasn’t Jeno, calling to cancel their plans. He picked his phone up and sighed when he noticed the caller I.D.

 

“Hey Nana, I’m so sorry-” Jaemin felt his heart drop,

 

“It’s fine, I’m sure we can reschedule, just-”

 

“It’s not that, I’m coming! It’s just that I forgot that I had plans with Injun before, he says it’s okay to cancel but I was thinking maybe we could all hang out together. It’s fine if you’re not comfortable with that, I’ll just tell him, Injun won’t mind. I just thought it’s be cool if-” Jaemin smiled ruefully as he listened to his best friend rumble.

 

“It’s okay, I’d love to get to know Renjun to, he seems really nice.” He heard Jeno yell from the other line.

 

“He is, you’re the best Nana! I’ll be there in a while, we can pick Injun up on the way. See you~” Jaemin shook his head as the call ended. It’s just like Jeno to overlap plans, it’s not even the first time. He finishes dressing and heads downstairs to wait for his best friend and get his mother’s often-unsolicited opinion about his clothing.

 

“Oh baby, you look great!” She rushes over to fuss about his hair style. Jaemin really loves his parents, especially his mother who is always there to tell him what he needs to hear, even if there are times when he doesn’t really want to hear it.

 

“It’s not over the top is it?” He looks down at his outfit.

 

“It’s fine” she assures him, “besides I don’t think Jeno would care about what you’re wearing, it’s just you and him today right?” Jaemin sighs and shakes his head.

 

“Change of plans, Jeno apparently already had plans with Renjun and forgot so, he’s coming along.” He rolls his eyes when his mom gasps dramatically.

 

“Oh baby, I know you were looking forward to catching up with Jeno today, are you okay?” She asks worriedly.

 

“Is Jeno cheating on you?” His dad appears on the doorway, holding another steaming mug of coffee- Jaemin guesses it would be his third or fourth of the day.

 

“He’s my best friend dad, he can’t cheat on me.” he deadpans, making his dad crack up and ruffle his hair, much to his mom’s horror. “And it’s fine mom, at least this way, I’ll get to know Renjun more too. He seems really nice.”

 

“Ok, I just don’t want you to be upset.” She smiles and continues to try fixing his hair.

 

“I’m not mom” The bell rings and his phone vibrates in his pocket. “Well I’m off, I’ll probably be back before dinner but I’ll text if there’s any change in plans.” She nods.

 

“You have your wallet and keys, just in case?” She calls out as he opens the door.

 

“Yes mom, I’m going.” He heard his mom telling him to be careful before the door closed.

 

“Your family is still as affectionate as ever I see.” Jaemin rolls his eyes at his best friend.

 

“Well hello to you too Jen.” Jeno laughs and nudges him to start walking.

 

“Hello to you too, sorry bout the change of plans by the way. Are you sure you don’t mind Renjun tagging along? Because he assures me that he’s okay with me cancelling.” Jaemin nudges him right back with a bit more force.

 

“I don’t mind Jeno, besides I really want to get to know him and Chenle.” He said honestly, and smiled when Jeno sighed in relief.

 

“Thank goodness, I wouldn’t have known what to do otherwise; their really nice Jaeminnie, you don’t need to worry, you’ll get along with them.” Jeno assured him.

 

“Who says I’m worried, you dork.” Jeno chuckles and shakes his head; he starts telling Jaemin about the interesting stuff that happened the last few months.

 

“-and then Renjun just corrected her about a mistake in the formula, we all just stared unbelievingly, he’s so smart! And there-” Jaemin tried to ignore the stone settling in his stomach as Jeno enthusiastically talked about how cool, adorable, funny, and smart Renjun was.

 

“Uhmm….Where exactly are we supposed to meet Renjun?” He asks, hoping that Jeno doesn’t notice how uncomfortable he is.

 

“Oh shi- I almost forgot, what would I do without you?” he teases and takes his phone out, probably to send a message to Renjun. Jaemin meanwhile, stops himself from replying sarcastically. “We’re almost at their house, come on, he’ll meet us at the corner.” Jaemin just nods and follows Jeno; reminding himself to actually make an effort to open up to Renjun. “There he is, come on!”

 

“Hey, you guys didn’t have to wait right?” Renjun greets them when they were finally within the talking distance.

 

“Not at all. So...” Jaemin sighs and gives Jeno a faux glare.

 

“It’s nice to see you again Renjun; oh wait, can I call you that? Sorry I didn’t ask first. You can call me Jaemin or Nana, I don’t mind.” Jaemin tells the other.

 

“It’s nice to see you too Jaemin, you can call me Renjun or any other varieties of my name, I don’t mind and I’m really sorry about tagging along, I told Jeno I was fine with cancelling but you know him.” Jaemin gives him a commiserating nod.

 

“Oh I know, this guy would lose his nose if it wasn’t attached to his face. It’s fine though, I don’t mind, I’d like to get to know you too.” Renjun smiles at him and Jaemin can’t help but notice how adorable he is; and Jaemin is a sucker for adorable things, i.e: his extreme love for Jisung.

 

“Go on guys, just talk about me like I’m not here, that’s very cool.” Jeno pouts at them both, Jaemin looks at him and gives Renjun a mischievous look.

 

“Yeah, come on Renjun. I don’t know if they’ve taken you to this place but it’s amazing, we’ve been going there for years and their coffee is to die for.” He leads Renjun, who realizes what he is doing and goes along with it.

 

“Yeah I’ve been there, I personally prefer their juices but the others have told me your love for coffee so I’m not all that surprised.” Jaemin laughs and they both ignore Jeno who is sputtering indignantly as they walk ahead. Jaemin realizes that maybe becoming friends with Renjun wouldn’t be that hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters are coming out very short but I'll try getting them longer next.


End file.
